K-Beauty Market Briefing — 2026-07-24

Original English analysis for global buyers. Source articles are linked; summaries are newly written, not excerpted.

regulation

Seoul will host the world's first summit of cosmetics regulators in September

Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is launching GCORAS, a first-of-its-kind council of national cosmetics regulatory authority heads, in Seoul this September to work on harmonising safety-assessment standards and dismantling non-tariff barriers, with Brazil's ANVISA already committed to attending under a bilateral MOU. The ministry also confirmed a ban on advertisements using AI-generated fake expert imagery for cosmetics from November 2026.

Buyer takeaway: Buyers should expect Korean suppliers' safety dossiers to travel across borders more smoothly over the next few years as regulator-level harmonisation starts, which strengthens the case for sourcing from Korea over markets outside the process.

Source: Cosin Korea (Korean)

regulation

Vietnam's new cosmetics decree puts sunscreen and whitening SKUs under the microscope

A consolidated cosmetics decree from Vietnam's Ministry of Health took effect on 1 July 2026, replacing pre-approval with post-market surveillance, making Product Information Files mandatory, requiring CGMP or ISO 22716 evidence for imports, and demanding sample submission within 30 days for high-risk items. Whitening products, talc powders, sunscreens and children's formulations — categories where K-beauty is strongest — are singled out for intensive monitoring, and labelling duties now extend to animal-derived ingredient and UV-filter disclosure.

Buyer takeaway: Distributors importing Korean sunscreens or brightening lines into Vietnam should audit PIF completeness and contractually fix who owns post-market compliance before the first shipment, because enforcement now lands after products are already on shelves.

Source: Cosin Korea (Korean)

demand

K-beauty's growth map widens: global sales up 53% with Latin America the steepest curve

NielsenIQ's new 'Global Expansion of K-Beauty' report puts worldwide K-beauty sales up 53% year on year and 131% over two years, with Mexico and Brazil together growing 135% in a single year — Korean cosmetics exports to Mexico have quadrupled since 2022 to about USD 59 million and to Brazil have expanded six-fold to USD 55 million. The report also flags hair care and fragrance as the next expansion categories as consumers assemble multi-product Korean routines beyond skincare.

Buyer takeaway: European buyers now compete with fast-scaling Latin American demand for the same Korean production capacity, so lock second-half allocations early and consider adding Korean hair care and fragrance lines before those categories tighten too.

Source: Cosin Korea (Korean)